IndiGo on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus to order 30 additional A350-900 widebody aircraft, aiming to expand its long-haul network over the next decade. According to aviation industry sources, the order is estimated to be worth around $5 billion.
In April last year, the airline had ordered 30 A350-900 widebody planes from Airbus. The April 2024 order was the very first time that India’s largest carrier had placed an order for wide body planes.
During the April 2024 order, it was revealed that IndiGo had the option to increase the wide body plane order to 100 planes.
“IndiGo had the option to order 70 more A350 planes. We are exercising a part of that option and ordering 30 more A350 planes. This takes our total wide body order to 60 planes,” IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said after signing the MoU with Benoit de Saint-Exupéry, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Airbus at the annual general meeting of International Air Transport Association (IATA).
“IndiGo has 1,370 planes on order with us. This new order takes the total order book to 1,400…We are delighted to be part of assisting IndiGo to expand its long haul travel around the world using these A350s and A321XLR. We are happy to support IndiGo during the next 2-3 decades of its expansion,” Beniot said during the conference.
Airbus will start delivering A350-900 planes to IndiGo between 2027 and earlier part of the next decade. The next batch of 30 A350-900 planes will be delivered from the earlier part of next decade to the second half of next decade, Elbers noted.
Widebody aircraft have larger fuel tanks and engines compared to narrow-body aircraft, enabling them to travel longer distances. The A350-900 aircraft has a range of about 15,000 kilometers. This capability means that IndiGo will be able to operate non-stop flights on long-haul and ultra long-haul routes such as India-US, India-Australia, and India-Europe. This also positions IndiGo to directly compete with Air India and other foreign carriers such as Emirates and Qatar Airways on these lucrative routes.
IndiGo currently has about 430 planes. Only three of them are widebody planes — two B777 leased from Turkish Airlines and one B787 leased from Norse Atlantic. The two B777 planes will be returned to Turkish Airlines within the next three months. The diplomatic tensions between India and Turkey have recently risen due to the latter’s diplomatic and military support after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
IndiGo has recently changed its business model. The airline last year ordered wide body planes for the first time. Last year, the airline also started business class on its flights. By the end of this year, the airline will have 45 planes with business class on them. The airline also started a frequent flyer program — something which only full service carriers have — last year.
Elbers had on Friday announced that in 2025-26, the airline will start international flights to 10 new destinations including Manchester, Amsterdam and London using its recently-leased B787 wide body planes and 321XLR, which are expected to join its fleet during the latter part of the financial year. Currently, IndiGo flies to 40 international cities.
To meet the growing demand in the country’s air travel market, Indian carriers have made several significant aircraft orders since 2023. In February 2023, the Tata-run Air India Group placed an order for 470 planes: 250 with Airbus and 220 with American planemaker Boeing. In June 2023, IndiGo made the world’s largest aircraft order by signing a deal for 500 A320neo family planes from Airbus. In January 2024, the new airline Akasa Air placed an order for 150 B737 Max aircraft with Boeing. In April 2024, IndiGo ordered 30 A350 planes from Airbus. In December 2024, Air India ordered 10 A350 planes and 90 A320 family planes from Airbus.